Douluo Continent: My Martial Soul is the Black Dragon, I am the Lord of the Gods

……

Night fell again, and Poseidon Island was enveloped in tranquility.

The laughter and chatter of the girls during the day had fallen silent, and the ice crystal castle radiated a cool glow under the moonlight.

Xuanming appeared silently outside the castle. Instead of heading towards Hu Liena and the others' residence, he turned towards the temporary dwelling built of extreme ice on the other side of the island.

Moonlight spilled onto the crystal-clear ice wall, reflecting a cool, serene glow.

He knocked on the door and went in after receiving permission.

The Snow Empress, still clad in a white dress, as pure and aloof as a snow lotus, sat regally on a chair formed of solidified ice crystals. The Ice Empress, arms crossed, swayed her scorpion tail gently, her azure eyes scrutinizing him. Bi Ji and Zi Ji were not present, seemingly deliberately leaving them alone.

"What is it?" Xue Di's voice was as cold as ice, devoid of any emotion.

Xuanming didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "I'm here to talk about what happened between us."

Hyotei raised an eyebrow, a hint of mockery in his voice: "What? Finally remembered to deal with us old guys? Or did Gu Yuena force you to come?"

Xuanming shook his head, his expression calm: "It has nothing to do with her. I came here on my own."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress. "I truly have no ulterior motives towards you, at least not yet."

His bluntness surprised both the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress.

"As for what the future holds, I don't know either," Xuanming continued, his tone calm. "I don't have the time to think about these things right now. Hu Liena and the others need to resolve their inner conflicts because the Divine Examination is approaching. But you... you have plenty of time, no need to rush."

Hyotei snorted: "Who's in a hurry? Stop trying to make yourself look good."

Xuanming ignored her stubbornness and changed the subject: "As for my so-called fourth test, I don't care whether I succeed or fail."

A flicker of emotion finally crossed Xue Di's usually cold eyes: "Don't you care?"

“Hmm.” Xuanming nodded. “Or rather, I never really cared about this so-called Nine Trials of the Sea God from the very beginning.”

His voice was calm, yet carried a detached indifference that seemed to see through everything: "Rather than saying I'm undergoing a test, it's more accurate to say I've simply given myself a direction to strive for, a reason to become stronger. But now, this fourth test..."

He frowned slightly. "It's boring. Because it was impossible to complete from the very beginning."

"Impossible to accomplish?" Hyotei couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

“Qian Renxue.” Xuan Ming uttered a name, his tone calm but with an undeniable certainty, “I can deal with everyone else, whether it’s Poseidon or you. But Qian Renxue… I can’t.”

He didn't explain why there was no way, but both Xue Di and Bing Di could sense the helplessness and... a hint of indescribable complexity in his words.

“So,” Xuanming concluded, “I never expected to pass this test. I’m already prepared to break through to the God Realm, so let the result of the test be.”

He raised his hand, and a flash of light appeared in his palm, revealing two crystals that exuded extreme coldness yet contained immense life energy.

The crystal was like the purest ice-blue diamond, with a galaxy seemingly flowing inside. Its mere appearance caused the temperature of the entire ice house to plummet, and even the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress felt their own ice and snow power resonate and tremble.

"Ten-thousand-year-old Xuanbing Marrow?!" The Ice Emperor exclaimed in shock, her azure eyes filled with disbelief. For the first time, a clear emotion appeared on the Snow Emperor's eternally unchanging icy face.

For ice-attribute soul beasts, the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow is a supreme treasure. Not only can it greatly enhance their cultivation, but more importantly, the extreme ice-attribute energy and life essence it contains are enough to help them resist or even resolve the terrifying heavenly tribulation! With these, their chances of surviving the next heavenly tribulation will greatly increase, meaning they will have a lifespan of tens of thousands of years, or even longer!
“I found these in the far north this afternoon.” Xuanming’s tone remained calm. “With my divine sense at the Divine Origin Realm and my control over ice and snow, finding them wasn’t too difficult. These things should be enough to help you survive the next Heavenly Tribulation.”

He pushed the two clumps of ten-thousand-year-old Xuanbing marrow toward the Snow Emperor and the Ice Emperor.

Xue Di didn't immediately take it. She raised her icy blue eyes, stared intently at Xuan Ming, and asked in an unprecedentedly confused tone, "Why?"

Hyotei was equally puzzled: "We... don't seem to have been of any help to you."

Their relationship with Xuanming was more of a cooperative one based on the perspectives of Gu Yuena and the Soul Beast race, even initially tinged with scrutiny and hostility. Why would Xuanming go to such lengths for them? It goes far beyond the scope of cooperation.

Xuanming looked at them calmly: "Just consider it a small favor as a friend."

Friends? Xue Di and Bing Di were startled. The word, spoken by Xuan Ming, carried an indescribable weight.

“Moreover,” Xuanming paused, his voice lowering, “if something happens to Gu Yuena and me in the future, the soul beast race may have to be entrusted to you.”

Xue Di frowned even more deeply, finally asking the question that had been weighing on her mind for so long: "I don't understand, Xuan Ming. Why do you take on so much responsibility? What does the so-called responsibility of the Soul Beast race have to do with you?"

Her tone carried a hint of confusion, even a touch of accusation: "Just as the top echelons of humanity don't care much about the lives of the lower classes, we powerful soul beasts are equally indifferent to the lives of the weaker ones. Perhaps this sounds a bit heartless, but the so-called righteousness of the soul beast race is, for us, merely a choice within our capabilities. If faced with a choice between the righteousness of the soul beast race and my own path to godhood, I would choose the latter without hesitation."

Although Hyotei didn't speak, their eyes conveyed the same meaning.

They have lived for too long and have become accustomed to the law of the jungle. The so-called righteousness of the tribe sometimes seems pale and powerless in the face of their long lives and the strength of the individual.

Xue Di continued, her voice carrying a hint of confusion she herself was unaware of: "To put it bluntly, I don't really care about the lives of those unfamiliar soul beasts. Even Di Tian and the others are the same. They keep talking about the great cause of the soul beast race, but what they really care about are only the powerful soul beasts. The weak soul beasts are worthless in their eyes."

The righteousness of the soul beast race… I often don't understand what this so-called righteousness is. It seems that all soul beasts are born with this responsibility, born to sacrifice everything for it.

She looked at Xuanming, her icy blue eyes filled with inquiry: "I have cultivated for hundreds of thousands of years, always in this cold, snowy land, always alone. I have no interest in so-called righteousness. I have wanted to ask you for a long time, Xuanming, why did you go to this point? What does the future of the soul beast race have to do with you, a human?"

Faced with Xue Di's series of soul-searching questions, Xuan Ming remained silent for a long time.

Only the faint humming sound emanating from the millennia-old cold marrow remained inside the ice house.

Finally, he raised his head, his icy blue eyes showing no anger at being offended, only a deep, unfathomable calm.

“It’s alright,” he said, his voice clear and firm. “I don’t mind either.”

This answer stunned Xue Di and Bing Di once again.

“I don’t care about the righteousness of the soul beast race,” Xuanming said slowly. “I don’t have that kind of thing.”

"I'm just keeping my promise."

"The Ice Dragon King wants the dragon race to be revived, and I am working hard to achieve that."

"Gu Yuena wants to change the future of the soul beast race and prevent them from being slaughtered by the ever-increasing number of human soul masters. I will help her."

He paused, looked at the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress, his gaze almost cruelly honest:

"What I care about has never been any grand cause. I'm not that noble."

"I am a very selfish person."

"All I did was to fulfill a promise I made to the people I care about, nothing more."

After he finished speaking, a long silence fell over the igloo.

As Xue Di and Bing Di looked at the human youth before them, and saw the undisguised selfishness in his eyes, a storm raged in their hearts.

I see.

There was no lofty righteousness, no sense of responsibility for the world.

Only the purest, and also the heaviest... promise.

This "selfishness" shocked them far more than any impassioned declaration of righteousness. (End of Chapter)